Overhead door and affiliated mechanism



June 11, 1946. c, BUEHNER 2,401,857

OVERHEAD DOOR AND AFFILIATED MECHANISM Filed March 6, 1944 2Sheets-Sheet 1 in. "I

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June 11, 1946. BUEHNER 2,401,857

OVERHEAD DOOR AND AFFILIATED MECHANISM -f) A TTOENEV'S Patented June 11,1946 OVERHEAD DOOR AND AFFILIATED I MECHANISM Christ Buehner, Milwaukee,Wis., assignor to Phenix Manufacturing Company, Inc., Milwaukee, Wis., acorporation of Wisconsin Application March 6, 194 4, Serial No. 525,319

4 Claims. (01. 160-201) This invention relates to improvements inoverhead doors and afilliated mechanisms.

The overhead door of the present invention is of the type which includesmore than two superimposed and foldably connected sections and arrangedrelative to the tracks or guiding means in a manner so that the rollerscarried by the top section of the door are on supports which may projectoutwardly or collapse relative to said door section, whereby, for theelevation of the door a path utilizing but a minimum of head room isrequired. In conventional doors of the type under consideration, due tothe low elevation of the overhead portion of the guiding track for thedoor, the upper section of the door may usually break or fold inwardlybefore initiation of movement of the entire door, with the undesirableresult that special means must be provided for controlling the uppersection of the door and to insure proper closing and latching of thesame when the entire door is closed.

With the foregoing in mind it is, therefore, a primary object of thepresent invention to overcome the above objections by providing amultisection overhead door of the type mentioned in which the uppersection of the door breaks or folds inwardly only upon movement of theentire door with the same being accomplished by the. same singleoperation used to initiate movement of the entire door, together with anovel latching mechanism for both the upper panel and the entire door.

A further object of the invention is to provide, in a multi-sec'tionoverhead door, a novel combination latching mechanism whichsimultaneously and jointly latches the upper panel of the door againstinward swinging movement, and latches the entire door against verticalmovement.

A further object of the invention is to provide an overhead doorlatching mechanism having elongated control means traversing thevertical extents of several of the foldably associated door sections,said elongated control means incorporating mechanism for automaticallycompensating for any foreshortening tendency therein during the movementof said door sections through an arc to overhead position.

A further object of the invention is to provide, in a multi-sectionoverhead door, latching mechanism for the door which is easily operatedfrom exteriorily of the door by the simple manipulation of a pushbutton.

A further object of the invention is to provide,

look and latch mechanism which necessitates, on the exterior of thedoor, a minimum of projecting hardware, thereby economizing in the headroom required for the door when it is in its overhead position.

A further object of the invention is to provide an overhead door andaffiliated mechanism of very simple construction, which is. strong anddurable, which is simple and efllcientin operation, which permits easyand accurateinstallation of the door, and which is well adapted for thepurposes described.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists of theimproved overhead door and afliliated mechanism and its parts andcombinations as set forth in the claims, and all equivalents thereof. I

In the accompanying drawings in which the same reference charactersindicate ;the same parts in all of the views:

Fig. 1 is a rear or inner elevational view of the improved overhead doorin its closed position and showing afliliated mechanism therefor,portions of the supporting structure being shown in section;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary detail sectional view taken on line2-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an-enlarged fragmentary elevational view of an inner portionof the upper section of the door showing the latching mechanism carriedthereby;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a top view.of the showing in Fig. 3 with a portion of anassociated angled plate being shown in section;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of the inner portionof an intermediate section of the doorshowing the portion of thelatching and locking mechanism carried thereby;

Fig. '7 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 1-1 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view similar to Fig. 7, onlyshowing the mechanism in another position;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view of a portionof the overhead door guiding mechanism; and

Fig. 10 is a transverse sectional view taken on line |0-l0 of Fig. 9.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the complete,sectional, overhead door I5 is illustrated as having four sections l6,l1, l8 and I9, but in actual practice the door may inin a multi-sectionoverhead door, combination 66 clude any number of sections in excess oftwo.

3 1 The sections l6, l1, l8 and I9 are hinged together, in superimposedrelation by hinges 20. For the purpose of guiding the door to and fromits overhead position there are provided adjacent each side of the doora metal track H of channeled formation and comprising an upright section22, a curved section 23, and an overhead horizontal section 24.

The mechanism for guiding the door to and from its overhead position,except insofar as it is associated with the improved door latching andlocking mechanism with which the present ap-. plication is particularlyconcerned, will not be described in detail, as it forms the subjectmatter of a separate copending application, Serial No. 525,320 filed oneven date herewith, now Patent No. 2,375,837, dated May 15, 1945. Thedoor guiding mechanism is, however, of the type which requires a minimumof head room when the door is in its overhead position. To that end. theupright sections 22 of the tracks 2| terminate below the upper edge ofthe closed door so that the curved sections 23 of the tracks 2| curveupwardly and inwardly from the lower portion of the upper section I9 ofthe door. Guide rollers 25 for said upper door sections are, therefore,carried by hinged plates 26 mounted on the upper section IS, with saidguide rollers being engaged in and adapted to follow the curved andhorizontal sections of the track 2|. The arrangement of the rollercarrying plates is such that the projection of the rollers relative tothe plane of the door section I9 is variable to compensate fordifferences in proximity of the face of the door section to the track indiiferent positions on the door. Below the upper section I!) all of thehinges disposed on the side margins of the door sections have joumaledtherein shafts 21 carrying guide rollers 28 which ride in the tracks 2|.

The hinged plates 26 are in the nature of cantilevers and each has itsunder, angularly directed leaf portion pivotally secured to the upperend portion of an adjustable link, designated generally by the numeral29 and shown in detail in Figs. 9 and 10. The lower end portion of anadjustable link 29 is pivotally secured to the offset shank portion 30which has a thin angular keeper blade 3| which straddles the shaftcarrying the guide roller 23 projecting from the hinge between the uppertwo door sections I8 and I9. Each keeper blade projects into the slotbetween the vertical side margin of the door and the adjacent track 22and is adapted, when the door is in its closed position, to engage afixed protuberance 32. The purpose of this arrangement is to urge theupper door section I9 toward its closed position when the entiremulti-section door is in its vertical closed position. This is due tothe fact that the keeper blade 3|, being engaged by the protuberance 32,exerts an upwardly directed force on the adjustable link 29 so that therollercarrying cantilever plate 26 is urged in a clockwise directionrelative to Fig. 2, exerting a closing force on the hinged door sectionl9. From Fig 2 it will be noted that when the door, including the uppersection I9, is in its closed condition, the guide roller 25 is in theupper extent of the curved section 23 of the track. This tends towardpreventing the upper door section l9 from undesirably breaking orfolding inwardly. Upon initiation of upward movement of the entire door,then the upper guide roller 25' will ride into the horizontal tracksection 24 which will permit the upper door section l9 to freely fold orbreak inwardly as shown in broken lines in wardly prior to initiation ofvertical movement. of the entire door.

Mounted through one of the intermediate sections of the composite doorl5 and at a convenient elevation from the ground is a lock barrel 33 inwhich, as is customary, tumblers are adapted to be actuated by a keyinserted into the barrel from exteriorly of the door. Turning the keyand the tumblers controlled thereby is effective to turn a lockprojection or lug 34 which lodges within a recess 35 therefor in averticallocking bar 36. Hence, turning movement of the lug 34 in theproper direction, through the engagement of said lug and bar, lifts thebar. The bar is slidably mounted in a bracket 31 on the inner face ofthe door. As will appear hereinafter, and as is shown in Figs. 7 and 8,when the bar 36 is in its lowered position the latching mechanism, to bedescribed,-is released, and when the bar 36 is in its lifted position,the latching mechanism is held or locked in its engaged condition.

The latch mechanism comprises a bell crank lever 38 of bifurcatedformation and pivotally mounted as at 39 on the inner face of the doorimmediately over the vertical locking bar 36. Thebell crank lever isadapted to be rocked in a vertical direction by a horizontally disposedplunger bar 40. Said bar is slidably mounted through the door section soas to project outwardly of both faces thereof. Plates on the oppositefaces of the door section have inturned stamped flanges 4| which enterthe bore in the door section through which the plunger is passed andform bearings for the bar plunger to relieve wear on the stock of thedoor section. The inner end of the plunger bar is embraced by the lowerarms of the bell crank lever 30 and has projecting transverse pinportions 42 engaged within slots 43 in said bell crank lever. The freeends of the other arms of the bell crank lever have pivotally attachedthereto the lower ends of a pair of upwardly directed. elongated links44. From Fig. 1 it will be observed that the intermediate hinge 20between the door sections l8 and I9 has pivotally mounted on the hingepintle a pair of toggle links 45. The outer ends of these toggle linksembrace the upper ends of the elongated links 44- as well as the lowerend of an upper rod 46, all of the same being mounted one. common pivotpin 45'. The upper end of the rod 46 has attached thereto a yoke 41, theside arms of said yoke being slotted as at 48 and the top bar of theyoke having a rectangular slot 49 therein. The flattened depending shankportion 50 of a. latching hook 5| extends slidably through the slot 49in the yoke 41. The depending portion of the hook shank 50 carries aretaining washer 52 which serves to hold on said hook shank 50 a guidedisk 53 having laterally projecting pins 54 which ride in the verticalslots 48 in the sides of the yoke 41. It will be observed that the hookshank above the flattened portion 50 is of twisted or corkscrewformation with the result that when there is a relative verticalmovement as between the yoke 41 and the hook shank, the hook shank anangle plate 68 whose vertical will be turned or swung in one directionor the other. The yoke 41 is normally maintained in a lowered positionrelative to the hook shank by means of a confined coiled spring 66. Theupper end portion of the latching hook 5| is formed with a horizontalarm at right angles to the shank, said arm terminating in a hook portion56 which is disposed adjacent the upper edge of the top section IQ ofthe door.

The frame of the structure surrounding the door opening has on its upperhorizontal margin a transverse beam 51 which is adapted to be abutted bythe upper marginal portion of the top section of the door when the dooris in closed position. The upper face of said beam, intermediate theends thereof, has anchored thereto flange 66' is formed with a slot 63which is adapted to be entered by the hook extremity of the latchinghook when the latching hook is swung through an arc from the full lineposition of Fig. 5 to the broken line position in said view. When thisis accomplished, not only is the entire composite door latched againstvertical movement but the upper door section I9 is likewise latchedagainst undesired inward swinging or folding, prior to initiation ofopening movement of the entire door. The latching hook, whichaccomplishes both functions, is operated through a single operationtransmitted by the rod 48, the toggle links 45, the elongated links 44and the bell crank lever 38, all previously described. Upward movementof this train of connected elements is accomplished when the locking bar40 is pushed inwardly from the position of Fig. 7 to the position ofFig. 8. This causes an upward rocking of the bell crank lever andthrough the means described the latching hook is swung to the latchingposition shown in broken lines in Fig. 5. The control and operation ofthe latching mechanism is accomplished from exteriorly of the buildingthrough the simple expedient of pushing the bar 40. If it is desired tomanipulate the latching mechanism from interiorly of the building thiscan be readily accomplished by manually swinging the bell crank lever38.

Operation of the latching mechanism can only be accomplished when thevertical locking bar 36, previously referred to, is in its loweredposition. When the latching mechanism is engaged and the locking bar 36is in its upwardly reciprocated position, theupper free end of said bar36 engages in a slot 60 in the latching bar 40, thereby holding thelatching bar in its innermost position. When the locking bar 36 isreciprocated downwardly, the slot 60 is disengaged, thereby freeing theparts for movement. and downward movement of the yoke 41 and associatedconnections to accomplish an unlatching movement of the hook 5| is urgedby the spring 55.

As was mentioned, the reciprocations of the locking bar 36 areaccomplished from exteriorly of the door by the key operated tumblers inthe barrel 33, and from interiorly of the building the locking bar maybe dropped and released by manually engaging the flanged lower extremitythereof.

The lost motion connection between the yoke 41 and the shank 50 of thelatching hook is of considerable importance. It will be appreciated thatthe train of connected operating members between the bell crank lever 38d the latching hook 5| traverses the line of hinged connection betweenthe door sections l8 and i9. These sections, in moving from closedvertical position to overhead position, ride along the curved sections23 of the tracks 2|. If nospecial provision were made for a yieldingshortening in the connections between the members 36 and 6| duringmovement through the arc of the curved sections of the tracks, anundesirable bending or breaking of said connections would result. Thispossibility, however, is effectively taken care of by the lost motionconnection between the yoke 41 and the shank B0 of the hook 6|. When the'door sections l6 and I! are being moved through the are caused by thecurved sections of the track and fold relative to each other, a yieldingshortening of the previously mentioned connections is permitted becausethe yoke then ridesupwardly on the hook shank 50, against the tension ofthe spring 55, permitting the connections to temporarily shorten to anextent to protect them against strain imposed by the folding movement ofsaid door sections. When the door sections reach the overhead positionor reach the closed vertical position, the yoke 41 and hook shank 50float or elongate relative to each other in a rectilineal path tocompensatingly increase the over-all length of said connections.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the improvedoverhead door mechanism provides efficient and easily operated mechanismfor latching the door, including the upper section thereof, and forlocking the latching mechanism. These devices have a minimum ofprojecting parts and do not affect the overhead room required by thedoor. The door and its associated mechanism are, furthermore, of simpleand novel construction and are well adapted for the purposes described.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. Fastening means for an overhead door of the type which includes aplurality of sections hinged together in superimposed relation to fit ina door frame with tracks adjacent the sides of the door frame curvingupwardly therefrom and bearings on the door sections engaging the tracksto guide the door sections into and out of the frame, comprising a latchon the uppermost foldable door section to jointly latch said sectionagainst independent swinging movement and the entire door againstsliding movement on the tracks, manual control means for the latchmounted on a door section remote from the latch, and a jointed linkageconnecting said control means to the latch.

2. Fastening means for an overhead door of the type which includes aplurality of sections hinged together in superimposed relation to fit ina, door frame with tracks adjacent the sides of the door frame curvingupwardly therefrom and bearings on the doorsections engaging the tracksto guide the door sections into and out of the frame, comprising a latchon the uppermost door section to latch it against swinging movement andto latch the entire door against sliding movement on the racks, manualcontrol means for the latch, and jointed linkage connecting said controlmeans to the latch, said linkage including therein a yielding lostmotion connection to permit automatic shortening and elongation of saidlinkage.

3. Fastening means for an overhead door of the type which includes aplurality of sections hinged together in superimposed relation to fit ina door frame with tracks adjacent the sides of the door frame curvingupwardly therefrom and bearings on the door sections engaging the tracksto guide th door sections into and out of the frame, comprising aswingable latch hook movably mounted on the uppermost door section, afixed female latch plate carried by the door frame to engage said hook.an elongated, jointed linkage connected at one end with said hook andreciprocable to swing said hook, and manual control means projectingfrom a door section remote from the hook and engaging the linkagetoreciprocate the latter.

4. Fastening means for an overhead door of the type which includes aplurality of sections hinged. together in superimposed relation to fitin a door frame with tracks adjacent the sides of the door frame.curving upwardly therefrom and bearings I on the door sections engagingthe tracks to guide the door sections into and out of the frame,comprising a swingable latchhook mounted on the uppermost section of thedoor. a fixed female latch plate carried by the door frame to engagesaid hook, an elongated, jointed linkage reciprocatably mounted on thedoor, a yielding, lost motion connection between the linkage and thehook, said connection including means eflective to swing the hook, and areciprocatable plunger mounted through the door remote from the latchhook and engaging the linkage to reciprocate it.

CHRIST. BUEHNER.

